Another step for cinema center

The $1 million designated for Pittsfield’s North Street cinema center by a House and Senate conference committee last week should bring this important $13.2 million project one step closer to becoming reality. The six-screen cinema, the product of an imaginative public/private partnership, will be a magnet drawing people downtown, as is the case with movie theaters in many other Northeastern communities. Committee Chairman Daniel Bosley of North Adams, along with Representative Christopher Speranzo and Senator Andrea Nuciforo, both of Pittsfield, have pushed hard for this project, and if it is not signed into law by Governor Romney as it should be, we hope our Berkshire delegation will round up the votes needed to override a veto. The economic stimulus bill also includes funding to provide increased parking in downtown Pittsfield, restore Pittsfield’s historic gateway and extend the Ashuwillticook Trail into Pittsfield a project that has met neighborhood resistance. All of this money would be well-spent as Pittsfield, after a long period of stagnation, is working to improve itself at many levels.